Bad Timing
by Kikiduck
Summary: A short D/H ficlet set fifteen years in the future.


_Authors Note: A short D/H ficlet set fifteen years in the future. Based on the lyrics from the song of the same name (lyrics at end of story.)_

Bad Timing

A blast of cold air blew through the roadside diner as another plaid shirt clad trucker stepped through the door, the gold bell hanging from the doorframe jingling merrily. Keeping with the authentic diner motif, a country song about a man who'd lost everything except his truck and boots was blaring from the weathered jukebox against the wall. Steven Hyde was sitting in one of the cracked red vinyl booths under the windows, ignoring the cup of black coffee on the table as he inspected the scrap of paper he'd pulled from the pocket of his jean jacket.

It was half a sheet of unlined notepaper, complete with a picture of Yoda and the saying "May the Force Be With You" at the top. Eric was even more obsessed with Star Wars now than he had been in high school, if that was possible. It almost made him smile, except the phone number and address scrawled beneath wasn't anything to smile about. He didn't have the faintest idea what to do with it. _You should call her sometime, I bet she'd like to hear from you,_ Eric had said when he handed it to him. 

Ironically, there had been so many times over the last fifteen years when he wanted to call her, but didn't know where she was. Now that he had her number in his hand, he was scared to actually go through with it. So he had shoved it into his pocket and ignored it, until tonight. 

He slid out of the booth and headed for the pay phone at the back of the building, paper clenched tightly in his fist. The blond woman leaving the ladies room flipped her hair over her should and smiled at him flirtatiously, but for once, he didn't really even notice, concentrating on dialing the seven numbers before his brain took control again and made him stop what he was about to do. The phone rang five times before her answering machine clicked on. 

"Hey Donna, it's Hyde. Look, Eric gave me your number, and I was passing through town, so I thought I'd give you a call." He paused, trying to think what he wanted to say to her. "I know I probably shouldn't be calling you, and you never want to talk to me again and everything, but... I don't know." He stopped, thinking, _But, what? He missed her? He was sorry things didn't work out between them? He regretted telling her he didn't want to be second fiddle and walking out on her?_

"Um, I'm sorry for everything, Donna. I know that doesn't change anything, but I've wanted to say that to you for a long time now. I was kind of hoping I'd get to talk to you, but I guess I still have really bad timing whenever I try to tell you anything... so, maybe it's better this way."

"Hyde, wait." The phone clicked as she picked up. "I'm sorry I didn't pick up." 

"Donna?" He was rattled now. 

"You're right, you know." She sounded just the same as she had fifteen years before. "I'd never thought about it that way before, but we've had really bad timing. First in high school, and then in Madison after Eric broke up with me."

"Yeah, something always went wrong." 

She was quiet for a minute. "Hyde, I'm sorry too. You were always a really good friend, and I took advantage of that after everything with Eric." She laughed. "My timing is just as bad as yours."

He smiled at this, but wasn't sure what else to say to her. He hated trying to have to explain himself on the phone, it was just easier if he was face to face with someone.

"You said you're in town, where are you?" Donna asked suddenly. 

"Um... this diner off the highway." Hyde glanced around the narrow hallway, looking for a name.

"That one with the awful jukebox?" 

"Yeah."

"Oh my God, Hyde, I don't think you could have picked a sleazier place in town if you tried!"

"Hey, you know me." He laughed. 

"Look, I can be there in twenty minutes. Will you wait?" 

_Would he wait?_ "Yeah, I'll wait." He had barely finished saying the words when her phone hung up in his ear. 

She made it there in fifteen minutes. He was sitting back in his booth, staring at his empty coffee cup and trying not to check his watch every thirty seconds when the bell above the door jangled again. 

  
  
~*~  
  
_Hey it's me what a big surprise  
Calling you up from a restaurant  
Around the bend  
I just got in from way up North  
I'm aching tired now  
And I could use a friend  
I might be a fool  
To think that you do  
Want to see me again  
It's been awhile since I talked to you  
Nothing wrong  
Just nothing ever goes as planned  
Many times I thought I'd call  
I didn't have your number in my hand  
I know it's true  
You'd never do  
The same thing to me  
  
I never meant to make you cry  
And though I know I shouldn't call  
It just reminds us of the cost  
Of everything we've lost  
Bad timing that's all  
Maybe soon there'll come a day  
When no more tears will fall  
If we each forgive a little bit  
And we both look back on it  
As just bad timing that's all  
  
We used to have so many plans  
Something always seemed to turn out wrong  
I never could catch up to you  
Moving on and doing what you've done  
I don't know why  
The harder I try  
The harder it comes  
  
I never meant to make you cry  
And though I know I shouldn't call  
It just reminds us of the cost  
Of everything we've lost  
Bad timing that's all  
Maybe soon there'll come a day  
When no more tears will fall  
If we each forgive a little bit  
When we both look back on it  
Just bad timing that's all_  
  
----- "Bad Timing" - Blue Rodeo 


End file.
